>> Thursday, July 20, 2017

Defense Secretary
Delfin Lorenzana denied news reports last week stating that a New People’s Army
amazon arrested recently in Abra province is his niece.

In a statement sent to
Defense reporters, Lorenzana said that he is not related to the arrested NPA
amazon identified as Adriel Dawn Aguilar Aquino, alias “Joan,” contrary to what
was claimed in some news reports.

Lorenzana explained
that Aquino is a distant relative of his wife and this has no relevance to her
arrest by proper authorities.

“This notwithstanding,
the rule of law must be upheld at all times and equally applied to everyone
regardless of who he or she may be,” he said.

Lt. Col. Isagani G.
Nato, NOLCOM public information officer, said the 25-year-old Aquino was
captured by the Army troopers from the 24th Infantry Brigade (24IB) and the 7th
Infantry Division (7ID), after she sustained multiple gunshot wounds following
the gun battle.

She was provided
immediate medical care.

According to Nato, the
NOLCOM forces initially encountered 20 NPA members in Sitio Tinalban, Barangay
Kilong-Olao in Boliney around 3:30 p.m. of July 1, but the rebels dispersed
after the exchange of gun fire.

The arrested NPA
amazon admitted that she was a member of the NPA, under the Kilusang Larangang
Gerilya (KLG) North which operating in Abra and remote areas of Kalinga and
Mountain Province, Nato said.

Recovered from the NPA
combatants were several firearms and subversive items such as three M16 rifles,
among others.